Release Date: August 29th, 2023
Developed by: Sabotage Studio
Published by: Sabotage Studio
Available on: Xbox One, Series X/S & Game Pass, PlayStation 4/5 & PS Plus, Windows, Nintendo Switch
(Steam Code Provided: Completed on PC & Steam Deck)
Sea of Stars is a masterfully composed love letter to the Classic Turn Based RPG. The game’s inspirations are brandished proudly, yet stands firmly on its own two feet concomitantly. Whether you are a newcomer or a veteran to the genre, this game goes to lengths to make you feel welcome. A Game with so much passion poured in; you’ll find your hand slick from affectionate overflow.
The Classic Turn Based RPG: as I’m not sure if JRPG is a discriminatory term and I like to be fully aware of when I’m insulting people or not. We all know how sensitive the westerners who obsess over Japan can be. Arrogance over ignorance. It’s a genre that had its heyday during the Super Nintendo era. Sadly killed by overlong FMVs, awfully recorded dialogue and loading screens before each battle. Thanks mostly to the introduction of disc based media, the double edged sword that helped and hindered the genre. We find ourselves in the midst of a genre revival of sorts. Previously only the dedicated or the idiotic could collect these classic titles. Those rare beasts flush with disposable income and enough free time to scour the online marketplaces. Thanks to the titles’ rarity and outrageous resale prices. Sourcing hardware that’s compatible with modern displays is yet another hurdle. Thankfully we have been receiving a steady supply of ports, remasters and remakes to fuel nostalgia and give the uninitiated a chance to try these games at a reasonable price. Finally the younger player can experience what the midlife crises are endlessly crowing about online. This is a terrible introduction to a review, but trust me, it’s building to something. Don’t just scroll down to the Score!
You are offered a choice of main character at the very beginning, Valere and Zale. They are both referred to as Solstice Warriors, those who can use celestial powers in battle. Valere can harness energy related to the Moon and Zale in turn has UV based powers at his disposal. This is explained in game as the children born during the Winter or Summer Solstice. Harnessing the power of Luana or Solen respectively. With their powers combined they can harness the power of the eclipse. Which has some pretty heavy ties to the plot. Rather than simply disrupting animal’s sleep patterns or tricking the dense into staring at the sun. The two characters are whisked away into training at an academy in the clouds at an early age. You see, as they are brightly haired and highly animated sprites, they are obviously heroes of some sort and need the proper training to realise their full potential. Here we meet more senior members of the order who share the same spectacular skills as our protagonists. Brugraves and Erlina who are fully fledged Solstice warriors, a glimpse at what you could become after many years of training under the Headmaster. We get some gentle world building during this early portion of the game and an understanding of our place in it. Thankfully the game doesn’t grind a plethora of politics, fictional terms and locations into a balled clump to force feed you as an introduction. It is so refreshingly straightforward and opens up as you progress through your adventure. We have recently experienced a few clunky opening acts that shove exposition and foreshadowed events into our face with all the finesse of a drunken teenager trying to share a cheesy chip at a bus shelter.
Sea of Stars breaks it down to the basics which actually feels like a novelty in the current narrative climate. It’s invigorating to return to this classic style of recital. It might not be attempting to reinvent the wheel, but it hasn’t ended up as a bobbing rickshaw with oval tyres either. There is an entity known as the Fleshmancer and they have been creating a wave of engineered nasties that you must defeat. Once your training is complete and you get the nod from the Headmaster, it’s time to start exploring. Your quest will see you foiling the Fleshmancer’s devious plans in various locations. The world map isn’t the largest, but I would consider it dense. Each location is well stocked with enough distractions to keep your interest rather than barren plains of boredom. You will be backtracking occasionally until you unlock other methods of travel. So you’ll be glad of the shorter areas during these times, although you will unlock a multitude of shortcuts to speed up your progress. The team really went to lengths to sand off the old bugbears from a traditional adventure. There is the tiniest hint of your Metroidvania exploration here as you can return to earlier areas with updated abilities to reach paths or treasure chests that were previously outside of our grasp.
The combat follows the same core design scheme as the rest of the game. It’s a classical turn based system, but well seasoned with a sprinkling of modern improvements. Turn Based Combat is a Marmite component for a lot of players. Unlike a lot of traditional RPGs, you won’t turbofire the attack button until the credits here. Battles are more involved thanks to the timed input commands. Both attacking and defending can be improved by paying attention to the animations and reacting accordingly. Your special attacks which require MP can also be enhanced by learning the various timing inputs required. A similar mechanic is used in the likes of the Super Mario RPG, Legend of Dragoon or Yakuza: Like a Dragon; where each special attack has particular timings to be memorised. Valere has her Lunarang attack which bounces off enemies and can be deflected back as long as you can keep up the rhythm of the volley. Whereas Zale has a powerful Solar Burst that requires you to hold down the attack button until the attack charges up to its peak before releasing it. Each party member you recruit will have their own selection of abilities with unique inputs. They are all introduced at a sensible pace, which helps prevent the player from being overwhelmed by the variety of skills. Each physical attack will refill your MP bar which removes the need to be conservative with your special attacks. Physical attacks also knock spirit energy or live mana out of your enemies, which can be absorbed by one of your party to enhance their next move with their personal elemental affinity.
The enemies have clock icons that indicate how many turns you can take before they attack. Some enemies may display a collection of symbols indicating more powerful attacks. These symbols are called locks and they appear when an enemy’s move can be prevented with the proper combination of attacks. This starts off simply enough, possibly requiring strikes from Zale’s sword or a Moon infused attack from Valere. The locks are clearly labelled with icons, which were easily distinguishable even on a portable screen. When you successfully break a lock, it also boosts the spirit meter for combo moves. Combo moves may combine both elements from two characters to widen your selection of battle abilities. Later in the game it almost becomes a puzzle in how to combine several different attack variations into the number of turns provided. Just adding another layer of strategy to the battles and preventing them from growing stale throughout your escapades. Reading back over my notes and realised I’ve possibly made the combat sound far more complicated than it is to actually play. Either I’m an idiot or the game did a remarkable job of teaching me the combat system in an easy to digest method. Hopefully it was an example of the game being incredibly intuitive. If you do find yourself struggling with the combat, missing the right time for inputs as an example, the game has you covered. There are Relics available, which you acquire throughout the game. These open extra options to make certain aspects of the game more or less difficult if you so choose. Another example of catering to the newcomers without alienating your core audience. If you’re a virtuoso at these titles, there are punishingly difficult relics to put you through your paces. Everybody wins.
You get to choose your lead character at the beginning of the game. One of the Solstice Twins but no matter who you choose; the other member will remain in your party. I was a bit puzzled as to why I had to choose a lead if we can control both characters, but once the battles started I was simply glad to have another party member. Starting an RPG with one character against a crowd of enemies can be taxing on your patience, so I’m glad we were able to sidestep another genre trope once again. The Solstice Warriors; as they will eventually be referred to. Are joined by other adventurers you will meet on your travels. The first being Garl, the Warrior Chef, a childhood friend from before you ascended to the great boarding school in the sky. I should hate Garl. I prefer sardonic and spiteful characters. The more cutting the better. Garl is an optimist, brave and fully supportive of his team. It’s all so disgustingly heart-warming. He is told several times at the beginning of our adventure not to accompany the Solstice Warriors due to his lack of powers. But he refuses to abandon his friends. His enthusiasm is infectious and his trait of jumping in to help whenever and wherever he can is endearing. If only he started swearing frequently, then he would be the perfect character. I only mention Garl because you meet him so early in your adventure. I don’t want to rob anyone of the experience of meeting their crewmembers for the first time. But needless to say they are all rich characters in their own right with intertwining stories to the greater arc. I found myself reluctantly trading characters out of the active party out of necessity. Each character has different abilities that may be required to break locks or take advantage of a certain enemy’s weakness. It speaks to the characters’ draw when you get that emotionally attached to sprites. There is a brilliant cast of characters outside of the main party too. Each location is inhabited by denizens with advice or humorous dialogue as long as you take the time to talk to them. A pirate that casually lampoons every RPG cliche was a personal favourite. The world and its inhabitants mean this isn’t just a visual exhibit, it’s a place where you’re delighted to be immersed in.
There is a thin line games must tread when paying homage to the paragons that came before; as you run the risk of sacrificing your own identity at the same time. As soon as this game begins, my mind immediately registered “Chrono Trigger” which is completely intentional as previously mentioned. This game is not ashamed of its inspirations and wears them proudly. We’re not dealing with a hollow copy of the games that came before it. The character sprites aren’t floating rapidly across the floor, as if the landscapes were constructed from WD40 and butter. Which is an incredibly irritating trend in other recent tribute acts. During your early days of training you have to learn how to sew, which is met with very little enthusiasm from our protagonists. I only mention this because once you master sewing, your fabric is imbued with magic and glows constantly from that point on. Valere and Zale have their own hue surrounding them and it’s the first taste of some of the games’ amazing dynamic lighting techniques. I’ve been a huge fan of HD-2D in recent years, but this feels like a further step in the right direction with visuals. This looks just as impressive and it drops HD-2D’s grating depth of field blur. Lightning flashes, camp fires and spells all jump from the screen in really magnificent ways. I’m not usually one to single out the lighting in a game, but I found myself marvelling at the screen more than once. There are puzzle portions of the game that rapidly change the time of day and the shadow effects reflect the position of the sun or moon. This is an effect that never gets old. The entire world is visually spectacular. Sleeper Island’s coral area is confectionery for the irises and an early example of what’s in store later in your adventure. Running water, surrounding vegetation and skies are all painstakingly animated and each area feels so vibrant thanks to the team’s attention to detail. The visual delights carry over to the characters too; fantastic clear sprite work with animations and various profile pictures to compliment the accompanying text. There is no voice acting here, further paying tribute to RPGS of yore. This certainly doesn’t prevent the characters from feeling fleshed out or conveying their current emotional states throughout your journey.
They introduce something missing from a lot of these adventures; you can climb up small ledges! Traversal in this game is a step up from anything we would have experienced during the original generation. Tools such as the grappling hook or “Graplou” open up exploration even further. Making it feel like a puzzle platformer in places. You are rewarded for exploring areas with a selection of prizes. Better equipment, recipes for recovery items, new attacks or rainbow conches; which come in very useful later in your travels. This grappling hook can also be used to initiate combat for some free damage and live mana to kick off your battle with an advantage. As you stumble through the world you’ll find many points of interest that you’re unable to interact with. You will need to remember to return to these locations later in the story. Which always gives the brain a tickle of dopamine when you finally crack the area’s puzzle. The game world is well organised and you can revisit areas without too much backpedalling required. I did routinely revisit old areas just in case I missed a better fighting stick or shiny treasure. Which is a habit that has carried over from my vast experience as a slime punching, world toting hero. The game doesn’t actually expect you to inspect every corner of the map with a fine toothed comb. This is just another hangover from the 16-bit era. Old habits die hard.
The biggest convention this game tackles is grinding. You simply do not need to grind in this game. I never once sought out groups of enemies to gather experience and jump up a few levels. This is from a player that had a Blastoise going into the first gym of Pokémon Red. I enjoy stacking a few levels just to be sure the character is ready for what comes ahead in the adventure. This game is so finely tuned and balanced to an almost microscopic scale that you are never left stranded because of your level. I did see the Game Over screen a few more times than I would have expected, but the autosaves and campfires are plentiful. You’ll not be expected to repeat lengthy segments if you fail a battle. My issue was hoarding the healing items. Each time you rest at a campfire, you put that Warrior Chef to work and muster up some scran. You can cook and carry up to ten items to use in or out of battle. I had to finally break the old habit of refusing to use items. You’re given plenty of supplies during your travels and they’re meant to be used. Some dishes can heal the entire party with health and magic points. The amount of materials required to create these dishes usually reflect how potent they are. If a teammate has been knocked out, you can instantly revive them with a tasty treat or you can simply keep fighting until they recover on their own. After realising my culinary faux pas, I had a much smoother time and spent less time face down in the mud.
An RPG is only as good as the battle theme that lives on in your head on an eternal loop decades after you have played it. This game has provided a few extra tracks into that cranial playlist. The soundtrack is outstanding. you eventually unlock the ability to choose which song will play whenever you find yourself at an inn. The Messengers’ Composer Eric W. Brown returned and went above and beyond with what they delivered here. I saw in the presskit that Yasunori Mitsuda, the composer for Chrono Trigger also contributed tracks towards the soundtrack. Every scenario you find yourself in is expertly paired with the score. When you find yourself humming a few loops as you’re running the hoover around the house; that’s when you realise it’s trapped in your head for life. Nestled firmly between Bubble Bobble and the Dragon Quest battle theme. Right up until the closing acts of the game it was a pleasure exploring new areas just to hear what melody it was accompanied by.
Sabotage Studio also understood that to make a truly classic RPG, you need a fishing minigame. Nobody can accuse them of not doing their homework. If you do decide to take a step away from the main quest and spend some time on extracurricular activity there are a few distractions worth your time. Fishing is not just a time honoured tradition, it’s also a great source for meat, which you can use to create some powerful healing items at your camp fire. Vegetation can be harvested from nearly every corner of the game world, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled. Another pastime was a game enjoyed in most Inns called Wheels. Another turn based combat game, within your turn based combat game. You choose two figurines with different abilities and spin reels to be provided with various buffs. Hammers create a wall that blocks incoming attacks and prevents your HP from being reduced. Collect enough Orange or Blue tiles and the matching figurine will attack the other players’ board. Tiles with a starry background will upgrade the level of your figurine from Bronze to Silver to Gold. There are stats attached to each upgrade and the Gold Figurines have the ability to drop bombs behind the enemies’ defences. This game is equally addictive and frustrating. I hated having a strategy in place but being at the whim of lady luck. Some games you could flatten your opponent, others could end in a tie despite you having your opponent down to a single health point for multiple rounds. I had the same angry yet adoring relationship with Gwent, so mileage may vary with this one.
I have to throw in some negatives here, but unless you hate turn-based combat, spectacular sound and visual designs or if Breath of Fire used to bully you back in school; it’s an incredibly difficult game to dislike. Trust me: I can nit-pick flaws like an elderly aunt at a wedding and I’m still struggling here. The passion involved is on full display and it runs perfectly on a technical level. My only issue was one of the special attacks that could occasionally have a character dip off screen and that would put my timing off for the attack. That’s it, that’s all I can throw in its face. I enjoyed every moment I spent with the game. I already know there will be multiple replays in the future. The ending segment crept up a bit sooner than I expected. Once again we have a beloved RPG trope, the end game side quests. I wanted some more adventure before I hit the credits and the game provided. Wrapping up the optional content left me perfectly content with the length. You could choose to mainline the adventure at that juncture or hover around the world until you got your fill. Once again catering to your own personal preferences.
Sea of Stars is an outstanding title, if any newcomers were curious about turn based RPGs, this is the game I would steer them towards. Old hands will also have a great time revelling in this nostalgic quest. Although it may lack the full heft of a classic RPG, there is still enough meat on the bone to satisfy the seasoned RPG connoisseur. In a year already packed with future classics, this stands tall among them. Sabotage’s Kickstarter project has delivered exactly what the fans wanted and took no shortcuts in delivering their promised vision.
-DeadbeatpunK